Timeline
by Golem XIV
Summary: First in the "Timeline" series. The Titans meet a new friend, but Raven is suspicious of him. As she investigates, she starts discovering more than she bargained for, as every layer of truth that she reveals sinks her deeper in a relationship with their guest, a relationship that neither of them want, and uncovers a terrifying truth about her destiny.
1. Timeline

In the Titan Tower, the Crime Alert was blinking and the alarm was buzzing.

"Titans! Trouble!" shouted Robin. It was unnecessary – the Titans were already assembling, ready for action.

"So who's it now?" asked Cyborg as he jumped behind the T-Car's steering wheel. "Cinderblock! Downtown!" came Robin's terse reply together with the roar of his bike's engine, soon followed by the screech of tires as both vehicles shot out of the tower and towards trouble.

The car and the bike sped down the streets, while above Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy streaked after them through the afternoon sky.

As they reached their destination, the Titans formed into a combat group, their weapons armed and their powers ready. But a quick glance at the target area told them that they didn't need to bother.

Cinderblock was flailing his massive fists through the air, trying to hit a lithe young man carrying a wooden jō staff, but was having a lot of trouble doing it. To Robin's trained eye, it was clear that the youth somehow knew exactly where Cinderblock's swings were aimed, and he showed a remarkable capability of moving himself away from that spot before the hit landed. On top of this, every time Cinderblock missed – and he wasn't able to connect even once – the youth would smash his jō into one of his vulnerable spots, like his eyes, nose, the back of the knee and so on. It was obvious that Cinderblock was losing badly, and that the fight would soon be over.

"Anybody for popcorn?" asked Cyborg, producing a large bag of it from somewhere inside his exoskeleton and offering it around. "This would be fun to watch if poor 'ole concrete-brain there had any chance at all. Way this guy is kicking his butt, this will be over quickly!"

The frustrated concrete monster lifted both hands to try and smash his small opponent into the pavement, but just as the two enormous fists started descending, the youth slipped between Cinderblock's legs and delivered a hard kick to the small of Cinderblock's back. The monster overbalanced, and pulled by his own momentum crashed into the pavement face-first.

"Right on! Great work, dude!" shouted Cyborg. Beast Boy had turned into a green chimp and was hopping up and down and screeching with appreciation. Starfire was laughing and clapping, Robin was grinning and Raven was watching everything with an amused smile on her face.

The young man heard the words of encouragement and turned to look at his new fans, a big grin flashing on his face. As he took in the sight of the Titans, his eyes swept across them until his eyes met Raven's. At that moment his expression changed profoundly. He suddenly stiffened, frozen to the spot, his grin turning almost into a rictus, and his eyes filling with shock.

Cinderblock is not a particularly smart or quick opponent, but even he was able to take advantage of his tormentor's sudden paralysis. Rising on one knee, he aimed a heavy swipe at the young man. Luckily, he was not able to see well because of the beating his eyes suffered, and he was using his last reserves of stamina. The strike missed the young man but smashed the pavement beside him, shock wave and splinters throwing him several feet across the sidewalk, to crash into the wall of a building.

"Ouch!" said Raven. "That had to hurt!"

"Titans! Go!" shouted Robin, and the Titans moved in on Cinderblock. It took only a few seconds to take him down in his current state, and they quickly turned to the other participant of the fight they just witnessed.

"Are you all right? Have you been damaged? Do you feel the pain?" fussed Starfire.

"Only if I breathe", replied the young man, his expression betraying the pain he felt. "Ow. Thanks, guys. Got careless. Deserved it."

Robin knelt beside him and quickly checked him to make sure there was no serious damage done. "You're fine. Nothing broken, just scrapes and bruises. In a few days you'll remember it only for the wounded pride. By the way, I'm Robin, and our team is called the Teen Titans. These are Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy." The Titans nodded their heads or waved as they were presented. "Who are you?"

"The name's Timeline, or Teale for friends and – Ow! – and those that think it's too long. You know, like – Oof! – like T-L. Just arrived to your – Ouch! – hospitable city an hour or so ago."

"C'mon, let's get you cleaned up and checked, there may be internal bleeding or concussion. We'll take you to the Tower."

Best Boy yelped with delight and immediately started jabbering nonsense at their guest. Raven looked at Robin and raised an eyebrow. Robin just smiled in response.

"All right, Teale, let's get you in the T-Car. Plenty of room in the rear seat" said Cyborg.

"I want to go with Teale!" said Beast Boy. "Besides, riding is easier than flying. Gotta move those wings all the time!"

"I'll go in the car with _Timeline_ also", said Raven pointedly. "I'm the designated healer of this group in any case." It was now Robin's turn to raise an eyebrow at Raven, to which she responded with a small, smug smile.

"Don't mind Raven too much, Teale" whispered Beast Boy. "She is great, but she needs some time to warm up to people."

Teale looked at him, grinned and nodded his head. "Ouch! Should not have done that."

They got into the T-Car, Cyborg and Raven in the front and Teale with Beast Boy in the back. As Cyborg started the engine and began moving, Raven looked thoughtfully in the rearview mirror at Timeline.

 _He freaked out when he saw me. The others may think he got careless or complacent, that he thought the fight over and dropped his guard, but I know what I saw. The moment he laid eyes on me he was shocked, too dazed to think or move. Something is not right. There is a mystery here, and I'll be damned if I allow the same thing to happen as with Terra._

As they drove to the Tower, Beast Boy started bombarding Teale with all sorts of questions. "So, where you come from? That dude you fought was Cinderblock. We beat him up all the time. Do you have creeps like that where you come from? I hope not. Hey, you like pizza? I love it. But I'm a vegetarian. I like it with eggplant and tofu cheese topping. Do you play video games? I have this awesome one, 'Space Race 4', I beat Cy all the time ( _loud snort from Cyborg_ ). You hungry? I guess we can whip up something in the Tower". Teale tried to answer the questions at first, but they came on in such a blizzard that he finally gave up and let Beast Boy jabber on. On the front seats, Raven was massaging her temples while Cyborg was chuckling to himself.


	2. Guest

In the Tower, a quick scan by Cyborg revealed no important injuries, so Teale was given painkillers and was taken to the Main Ops Room. He gingerly sat onto the couch while the Titans clustered around him.

"So, Teale" said Robin, "Time for you to introduce yourself properly. Where do you come from? How did you get involved in that fight with Cinderblock?"

"I arrived from Steel City, been hanging out there for a few months, got bored, the roaming bug bit me. I've been roaming across the country for years, never staying more than a year or two in one place. Can't tell you much about my past farther back because I don't remember – honestly. Got into a fight with Cinderblock because he backed up all the traffic and I wanted to reach my hotel quickly" he laughed, but then his expression became more serious. "In truth, I take an exception towards animated concrete slabs trying to kick people around."

"Those were some nice moves, man" said Cyborg. Teale looked at him.

"Thanks, well, yeah, it has to do with this thing I can do." His gaze swept over the other Titans. "I can see the future."

Everybody was silent. Raven frowned at Teale. "That's impossible. The future is too fluid."

"You are partially correct, Raven" Teale replied. "I can't see more than two or three seconds in the future, but in a fight that's a lot of time and it gives me a great advantage. I can see – 'feel' would be more precise – all the moves that my opponent will make, and I can avoid them. Then I can choose where to strike, because my sense will tell me where it will do the most damage."

"Very useful skill to have" declared Robin. "Any idea how it works?"

"Well, I was, of course, interested in knowing what made me tick this way, and I found a possible explanation in quantum mechanics, specifically wavefunction collapse. If you know quantum mechanics…" Beast Boy suddenly started making snoring sounds, but Raven quickly clipped him on an ear. "… you'll know that particles exist in an undefined state, a probability wave, until they are observed, when their probability wavefunction collapses to the position where one 'sees' them. In my case, I can 'see' the wave itself and I can 'feel' the different ways the function will collapse, that is to say, all the different possibilities. Knowing that I can remove myself from danger before my opponent can even start the attack. After a few seconds, however, the spread of possibilities becomes enormous – just like Raven said – and my mind cannot process it" Teale sighed. "The quantum mechanics explanation covers all the characteristics of my skill, as far as I know. But the math is brutal and it was giving me a headache so I finally convinced myself that it was magic." he smiled at Robin.

"But it is obviously not all-powerful, considering what we saw today" Robin said.

"Exactly" answered Teale. "I have to sense the opponent first – I have to see him, or hear him, or feel his touch, or smell his breath, before I can sense his future actions. I can't react to an opponent that I don't see or hear, so I can be stabbed in the back, for example, or shot by a sniper. Also, as I mentioned, there is a limit on what the brain can process, so if there are too many attacks from too many opponents at the same time, I either cannot see all the possibilities or I can be simply be left with no viable options. There may be others, but these are the ones I ran into. There are some other interesting characteristics – I can 'feel' someone if I see him in a mirror, but I can't do it if I see him on a picture or a screen for example, because the particles that I am observing are not the ones from my opponent but from the picture or screen itself. I hope you understand, I may be explaining it badly."

"OK, dude, we get it!" piped Beast Boy. "You have big mojo plenty magic that rings an alarm bell when someone wants to kick your butt."

"That's it in a nutshell, BB" Teale replied with a grin.

Encouraged by the grin, Beast Boy continued. "Hey dude, you like jokes? I have a ton of jokes. You heard the one about…"

"Sorry BB, it's just not funny" Teale interrupted.

Beast Boy looked somewhat surprised, but recovered in an instant. "How about…"

"Nope, not funny either."

"Or maybe…" Teale emphatically shook his head.

Beast Boy scratched his head while everybody around was laughing except Raven, who glanced at Teale and commented in her deadpan manner "Well, at least you do have _some_ redeeming characteristics."

"Why is everyone laughing?" Beast Boy complained. Teale smiled at him. "My power can be used not only in combat, BB. I knew what you were going to say before you even said it."

Beast Boy put on his best sulking face, much to the amusement of his friends. But the irrepressible green boy could not be kept down. "Wanna play a round of Space Race 4? Bet I'll kick your butt!" he said while offering Teale a game controller. Teale nodded and accepted the controller. "It's your butt that will be plastered all over the screen" he intoned in an exaggeratedly menacing way. "Oh yeah? We'll see about that, now!"

"Cool down lil' buddy, the dude will see all your moves in advance, he'll hand you your behind on a silver plate" Cyborg warned, but Beast Boy was not to be put off that easy."No one kicks my butt in Space Race 4. No one."

Four minutes later, the game was over. Beast Boy hadn't scored a single point. He was staring at the results displayed on the finishing screen, his mouth open, his eyes dazed.

"Told ya, little buddy!" Cyborg quipped. "Now pick up your jaw from the floor and let's go to…"

"REMATCH!" shouted Beast Boy. Teale looked at him and grinned. "Glutton for punishment? Be my guest!"

They sat down to it again. This time Beast Boy played for keeps, managing to be in the lead one whole lap, but in the end he was soundly beaten. He tossed the controller away, got up and stormed out of the room, turning at the door to say "you do realize that this means WAR!"

"I hope I didn't upset him" Teale said, feeling uncomfortable. Robin smiled, and Cyborg said "Don't sweat it. By the time he gets to his room he'll forget about it."

Cyborg was right. Beast Boy returned from his sulking in less than five minutes and they all sat and chatted for a couple of hours more. Finally Timeline got up and said "Guys, it's been a real pleasure, but I have to go now. Thanks again for the help and the company!"

Robin touched Teale's shoulder. "Hang on and give us a minute, please." He then beckoned to the Titans who gathered around him, whispering. Teale quickly turned around so as not to watch what was being discussed. He sometimes hated being able to know what someone would tell him ahead of time, he felt as if he was invading the other person's privacy when he did it. He did manage to see that almost everyone was smiling, except Raven, who was frowning at Robin.

Robin cleared his throat and Teale half-turned, still avoiding to look at him. "Listen, Teale, we have some spare rooms in the Tower, so if you need a place to crash for a few days you are welcome."

Teale turned around completely, his happiness evident in his face. "Thanks, all of you. I'd be glad to." He rolled his eyes upwards. "The dismal state of my finances also thanks you!"

The rest of the evening passed almost uneventfully. Raven levitated in lotus position pretending to read a book, but her eyes were following Teale as he moved around. He chatted a while with Cyborg, who was interested in the technical aspects of his talent, and then he flirted harmlessly but outrageously with Starfire, to the extent that the alien girl blushed and started giggling. _Not that she needs much incentive for that_ , Raven thought. _Lucky for you Robin's attention is completely taken by the computer monitor_. She decided she would relax by recreating and analyzing a championship chess game she saw a few days ago and started placing the pieces on the board. Teale sauntered over towards her.

"Do you need a partner? I'm not bad at chess" he said.

"No." Raven cut without looking up. "I am analyzing a game. I do this _alone_."

Teale sat and watched her as she arranged the chessmen. She started moving the pieces according to the turns she remembered well, concentrating on the board, tuning out Teale and everything else. After almost half an hour, and with the pieces on the board set as they were in the critical moment of the match, he said "Chandra vs. Ponomarenko, World Championship quarter-finals, 12th game if I am not mistaken? Played last week?"

Raven's eyes shot up, more surprised than annoyed.

"That is correct. You are familiar with this match?"

"Yes, you can see the trap that Ponomarenko had prepared. Chandra apparently walked right into it, but it turned out that he knew what he was doing. While Ponomarenko was destroying his trapped center, Chandra assaulted his right flank with a rook supported by a knight, here…" his hand moved to take the white rook and put it in a new position.

Raven grabbed his hand. "Don't touch –" and suddenly images flooded into her mind.

 _A churning whirlwind of strong emotions, suppressed but unmistakable – a deep black well of fear, anguish, sorrow and despair, whipping around his soul, and something else glimmering at the bottom of the well, almost extinguished by the black vortex… Hope? Love?_

 _Image of Cinderblock, roaring, his fists high in the air_

 _The faces of the Titans flashed one by one, as they were when he saw them first_

 _Raven´s face, hidden under her hood, her violet eyes glowing in the darkness_

 _In his mind, her eyes close and disappear… four slits of baleful hellfire ignite in the depths of her hood_

She gasped and withdrew her hand as if burned. Teale also jerked his hand back, knocking several pieces off the board. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I… Sorry!"

She looked at him and forced herself to be quiet for a few seconds. _I am not going to let you know what I mean to say._

"Just leave me alone, please" she said aloud.

Teale stood up and took a step backwards, looking at the floor, blushing furiously.

"Sorry, I really didn't…" he stammered.

She looked at him coldly. "Stop apologizing. Just go."

She stood up from the board and went to her room. He was still standing there, looking at the floor. No one else noticed that anything happened.


	3. Questions

She levitated in a lotus position in the privacy of her room, softly chanting the mantra, while her mind tried to make sense of what she had felt.

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_

 _Did he really see me that way? Or was it me reacting to what I felt in his soul? If he saw it, did he understand what it means?_

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_

 _Why all the sorrow and anguish? Who does he fear for? Himself? Someone else? Why the despair? Was that Hope that I felt glimmering at the bottom?_

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_

 _I can't discard the possibility that he's being forced to do something that goes against his principles… Like infiltrating and betraying the Titans. It happened before. It may happen again. Someone could be manipulating him in doing it. It would explain what I felt within him._

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinth…_

"Bah! This is hopeless!" she said as she stretched her legs to the floor, cancelling the levitation. She will get no answers tonight. She will just have to keep an eye on their guest. Time for bed.


	4. Surprise

Next morning, Robin entered the Main Ops Room to see Starfire and Teale softly speaking to each other. Teale was grinning and Starfire was quietly giggling. The other Titans slowly filed into the room.

Suddenly Starfire announced "Friends, me and the Line of the Time –" Teale winced and interrupted her. "Please, Starfire, just call me Teale!"

She giggled again and said "Of course. Teale. We will go to the mall of shopping and return promptly!" With that, she grabbed Teale under his armpits and flew off with him.

"What the hell was that all about?" wondered Cyborg aloud. Robin said nothing, just frowned and sat behind the terminal.

After a couple of hours, the two returned, laden with shopping bags. "We shall be in the kitchen if anyone requires our company!" Starfire said to the room. Then they both went to the kitchen, Teale carrying the bags and whispering to Starfire with a big grin on his face, while Starfire clung to his arm, still laughing and giggling.

Robin's frown deepened, but again he said nothing and simply returned to his terminal. Beast Boy was practicing Space Race 4, oblivious to what had happened in the room. Raven was pretending to read a book, while her eyes were following the couple. As they left for the kitchen, her eyes met Cyborg's. She lifted an eyebrow. Cyborg shrugged his massive metal shoulders, a move that shook the couch, extracting an annoyed yell from Beast Boy.

An hour later, Starfire and Teale had still not reappeared in the Main Ops Room. Cyborg yawned, stretched, and said "Man, I'm hungry. What's for lunch?"

"There's some leftover pizza from yesterday in the fridge. Help yourself" Raven responded, without lifting her eyes from the book.

As Cyborg got up to look for the pizza, Starfire and Teale appeared, carrying trays of food in their arms. "Friends!" shouted Starfire happily. "We have spent the morning in the mall of shopping and in the kitchen to prepare for you sumptuous food!"

The aromas coming from the trays were so appealing that the Titans materialized instantly at the dining table, cutlery in hands, waiting to start the feast. There were all sorts and varieties of meat prepared in several different ways, and of course two special vegetarian dishes for Beast Boy. There was enough of everything even for Cyborg, and the next twenty minutes the only sounds heard in the room were the clinking of cutlery and wolfing down of food.

Finally, a thunderous belch from Cyborg, followed by an even louder one from Beast Boy, signaled the end of the feast.

"So, who did the cooking?" asked Raven.

"It was me" replied Teale. "It's another skill that I have – and it complements nicely with the main one!"

"I see. You can experience the effect of anything you add before you even do it, correct?"

Instead of answering, Teale just beamed at her, and then said "But I would not be able to do it if I did not have such an able and helpful assistant!" he said, waving his arm expansively to point at Starfire, who blushed and hid her smile behind her hand.

"So that's what you two were planning all morning?" asked Robin. He looked relieved. Teale said "Yes, I wanted to thank you all for your kindness in letting me stay here, so I asked Starfire to help me prepare a small surprise for all."

He flashed a quick smile at Robin, almost as if apologizing, but did not say anything else.

Later, Teale was sitting on the couch and talking to Cyborg. Their conversation slowed down a moment, and the huge metal man took the opportunity to slowly look around, as if to make sure they were not being listened to.

"I gotta hand it to you dude, I had you wrong." Teale looked at him with some surprise, but then he understood.

"You mean…" he said, and his eyes darted quickly to Starfire and then to Robin, then finally back to Cyborg. The metal head nodded.

"Don't get me wrong" Cyborg said softly. "They ain't married, and whatever she wants to do is none of my business. But they are – better to say, I hope they will be – a nice couple, would be a shame to break it up."

"I know. You know, it was obvious to me right away. Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of coming between them. But he's trying so hard to be serious and organized that he forgets sometimes that she is a happy girl that needs some attention and a little foolishness every now and then. Like a tree that you have to care for if you want it to flower in spring. I just wanted her to giggle a little bit and feel that she's appreciated. "

"Man, you're diving in too deep for me, but I do agree with you. Thanks for the fantastic lunch."

In spite of Cyborg's precautions, Raven had heard the whole exchange, though she never indicated that she did. _Damn. Every time I try to remove one layer, I just sink in deeper. Complex little fellow, aren't you?_


	5. Battle

That day passed uneventfully, but in the early hours of the following morning, the Crime Alert rang.

"It's the HIVE!" shouted Robin, as they were preparing to leave. Teale touched him on the shoulder and asked "Mind if I tag along?"

"Of course not, you could be a great asset!"

"Can I drive with you? I want to ask you something."

Robin was surprised, but said "I don't see why not. Here's a spare helmet. Hold on!"

They arrived at the site, the Titans with Teale confronting the HIVE. Robin and Teale glanced and winked at each other, both chuckling. They obviously concocted some devious plan while they drove to the place. Finally, Robin shouted, loud enough for the HIVE members to hear.

"Titans! As hosts we must make every sacrifice so that our guest –" he waved his arm expansively at Teale, who bowed, grinning – "can feel welcome in our city. Therefore, we shall forgo the beating up of the HIVE so that he can have all the pleasure for himself!"

"Aw, man! Cyborg complained. "If it was for anyone else, I'd say 'the hell with it!'. And I didn't even bring any popcorn!"

Teale strode forward confidently, jō staff balanced in his right hand, a mischievous grin on his face. On the way to the scene, Robin gave him a breakdown of the HIVE Five, their powers and weaknesses. Interestingly enough, the ones that posed the greatest danger to him were the easiest to take down, so he had already decided on his strategy.

The HIVE team heard what Robin shouted, looked in disbelief at each other and then at the young man approaching. Mammoth suddenly gave a bellow and charged Teale.

It was not really necessary for Teale to use his talent, because the big brute's charge was predictable. Teale simply used his jō as a pole to somersault over the charging Mammoth, landing in front of Billy Numerous. Billy was his greatest concern – if he managed to clone into too many copies of himself, he could easily overwhelm Teale. Billy was surprised, managing only to pop a couple of copies of himself before Teale, using his sense and his skill, took them all down with three quick, brutal and effective strikes. The moves were calculated also to bring him closer to See-More and into his blind angle. Teale stuck the end of his jō into the eye of the cyclops, sending See-More wailing to the ground.

"Ouch!" said Raven, covering her eyes. "I didn't have to see that."

"Man, my eyes hurt just from seeing this!" Cyborg commented.

Next on the list was Gizmo. Teale continued his move, rolling under the scythelike spider legs of Gizmo's exoskeleton, jumped up turning in a pirouette and the jō struck Gizmo's backpack. The exoskeleton, its control now destroyed, began jerking Gizmo around until it smashed itself and its owner into a brick wall.

"Ow! This dude is cruel!" shouted Beast Boy excitedly. "I love him!"

All this took no more than five seconds. Mammoth recovered from his charge and turned on their attacker again. The Titans had a moment of _déjà vu_ , because what followed was very similar to what they saw happening to Cinderblock just a few days ago. Timeline wriggled like an eel away from all of Mammoth's intents to hit him, squash him or grab him in a bear hug. Every time he missed, Teale hit him with the jō. Finally, again almost the same as with Cinderblock, Mammoth tried a double-fist overhead smash. Half-blind, limping from a nasty blow to the back of the knee, he didn't notice that this time Teale did not dart aside. As Mammoth lifted his fists, Teale sank almost three feet of jō staff into his belly. The huge man whooshed, doubled over, fell to the pavement, and lay twitching.

All the Titans – Robin and Raven included – winced at the sight.

The only one left was Jinx. Teale faced her and grinned. "Jinx, isn't it?" he asked as he sidestepped before one of Jinx's bolts even left her hand to strike on the now empty spot. "Look, how about you surrender now? I hate beating up girls."

Jinx sneered and launched a fresh barrage of bolts in response. Teale stopped grinning now and moved in closer to her. She unleashed a final bombardment, but Teale was already rolling on the pavement towards her, the bolts passing harmlessly over his body. His roll took him beside her, his leg scissoring in an arc parallel to the ground, sweeping Jinx off her feet. As she fell, the last bolt she was preparing shot upwards without control.

Everybody expected Teale to simply club Jinx over the head and finish the job, but instead he grabbed her in both arms and did a forward jump towards the street. As he came down, he tried to roll over his shoulder to cushion his fall, but the girl squirming in his arms made that impossible. He fell heavily and managed to roll, but he lost Jinx who quickly got up and lifted her hands, ready to blast him.

At that moment a huge block of masonry, dislodged by her last, uncontrolled blast, fell just a few inches behind her. The concussion threw her into Teale's arms again, and he managed to get her face down on the pavement, holding her arms in an immobilizing grip.

"Can someone give me a hand with this wildcat, please?" The Titans laughed and approached. Raven and Cyborg secured Jinx while Starfire and Beast Boy went around putting cuffs and disablers on the rest of the HIVE team.

"Congratulations, Teale!" said Robin, throwing an arm over Teale's shoulder and leading him away from the others. "It was an excellent show!"

Once they were a few steps farther, Robin whispered, his face suddenly serious. "Combat is not a gentlemanly sport. Your opponent is an enemy that will destroy you without mercy if you hesitate. It does not matter if it is a girl. Don't do that again!" He then grinned again, clapped Teale on the shoulder and let him go. Teale frowned.

Raven walked to him and faced him. "Robin was respectful of you to not allow the others hear what he had to tell you, but I'm not!" she hissed, her eyes burning white. "If you ever endanger one of my friends with your misguided chivalry, you'll have to deal with me!"

Teale looked surprised and for an instant Raven thought that he would back down apologizing, like he did last night. Instead, his grey eyes hardened as he returned her stare. "I do things in only one way – my way."

She sneered and turned from him. He watched her walk away.

Starfire landed softly beside Raven as she walked away and fell in step with her. "Friend Raven…?"

Raven sighed. "Yes, Starfire?"

"Why are you angry at our new friend? He battled gloriously and was victorious!"

"True, Starfire. But he also gave his enemy an opening, only because of some stupid, old-fashioned ideas. In some serious combat he could end up getting somebody hurt."

Many thought that the happy, giggly Starfire was also a bubblehead. Raven knew better than that, but she was still surprised when Starfire placed a friendly, caressing palm on Raven's cheek and said "Or maybe getting the hurt on himself is what worries you, friend Raven?"

Raven stared at her. Starfire kept her luminous green eyes on Raven's for a second more, then rose into the air and flew off to the Tower.


	6. Foreshadowing

_Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_

The doorbell chimed softly. Raven sighed and rose from her lotus position. She opened the door to see Teale standing in front.

"What is it?" she demanded, coldly.

"I need to ask you a favor. I wish to talk with you, and…"

She cut him short. "Apologize?"

He stiffened. "I don't recall doing anything that needed apologizing for. Sorry to have disturbed you. Have a good night." He turned around to leave.

She sighed. "Very well, you can come in." She stood away from the door, allowing him entry.

She caught him in mid-turn, which made him uncomfortable and confused. He hesitated.

"Are you going to come in or not?" she asked. He made his decision, turned back and entered her room.

He stood in the middle of her room, frowning. He turned towards her and said "Look, Raven, we seem to have started out on the wrong foot. I stand by my opinion that I did nothing wrong and that there is nothing to apologize for, but there may be things that I am not aware of, so I will give you this peace offering: I sincerely apologize if any of my actions or words insulted or hurt you in any way or form. If it is so, it was because of ignorance and not malice."

She allowed him to finish the entire tirade and then watched him for a few seconds longer, turning on purpose several responses in her mind, before returning to the one she intended to say. She dropped her gaze to the floor and forced out her next words. "No. It is up to _me_ to offer _you_ an apology".

He was completely confused now. He expected heated debate, even quarrel, but not this meek surrender. "I… it is not necessary. You did what you thought you should do." He turned his back on her, giving her the privacy to say anything to him, but she remained silent.

After a minute of tense silence, both spoke at the same time.

"The reason I came here…" "So, you came here because…"

He laughed, she smiled. He took over the conversation.

"I wanted to talk with you and ask you a favor" he said. "I would like you to teach me meditation."

 _Now that is an unusual request._ "Why?"

"Should there be a reason?" He turned away from her. As he did so, she first frowned, then it dawned on her why he was doing it. _How about that._

"No, but my meditation is not a recreational pastime. For me it is vital for keeping my emotions, and thus my power, under control."

"I see. No, I am not interested in 'recreational pastimes'. I need a way to keep _my_ emotions under control."

 _Well, well, we may be getting some answers tonight._ "I didn't notice your emotions causing you any trouble" she said aloud. "Does it affect your talent?"

"No. It's just that... I did not have any problems recently, but trust me, it would mean a lot to me." He was still turned away from her.

"I'd still like to know the underlying reason."

He sighed. "Very well. You see, when I explained my talents, I left off some important details."

Her heart started pumping faster. _Good! This is what I was waiting for! He's opening up. Now I will find out the truth!_

"My vision of the future is short, that is true. But there are times when I can see much farther into it than normally."

"How so?" she asked quietly, just to encourage him to keep talking.

"A building will stand practically unchanged for decades. A mountain for millennia. I can see these things because there is very little branching of possibilities."

She nodded, although he couldn't see her. "Go on"

"There are other reasons that may cause that the possibilities do not branch out. Do you remember flight TCA 722?"

"No" she said, puzzled.

"It was four years ago. 247 people on board, including the crew. I saw it standing on the tarmac, receiving passengers. Then I sensed it crashing at takeoff. I tried to warn them. I spoke to Airport Security, to the police, everyone. But they wouldn't listen. When it crashed, they arrested me, thinking that it was a terrorist attack and that I was somehow involved. They only let me go after the investigation proved without any doubt that it was mechanical failure and not terrorists that caused the death of 247 people."

She listened, mesmerized. He suddenly turned toward her.

"247 people died, because I was not able to get someone to listen to me. 247 people died, _because I failed_."

She looked into his eyes and saw the anguish. _Is this what I saw in him?_

He then dropped his gaze to the floor and turned away from her again. She stood up and gently took his hand. His emotions flooded into her again. The same maelstrom of sadness, anguish, fear and despair. And there was the diamond of hope and love, shining at the bottom of the black well, defying the darkness. She shuddered.

He removed his hand from hers almost absentmindedly and started walking around the room, avoiding looking at her.

"You know, this power of mine is like another sense. You can sit and listen to the drone of many conversations, but they are just background noise unless you focus on one of them. It is the same thing. I once saw a girl walking on the other side of the street. Something made me focus on her. She was walking quickly, tapping a message into her smartphone. She didn't realize the lights had changed. I shouted, I tried to run and stop her, but I was too far away, she was too concentrated on her smartphone. The driver tried to brake…"

"I left Steel City then. I could not bear to live there anymore. This is the reason I can't stay long in one place, because sooner or later something like this happens."

Raven sighed. It was tragic, but it was nothing compared to what she had to go through every day of her life. _Oh, Teale, how lucky you are. But I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone._

Teale continued his monologue. "Until recently, I started thinking more and more often that this gift of mine is not a gift, but a curse…"

She almost screamed. _If you only knew what a_ real _curse feels like._ Nothing showed on her face. She continued to follow him with her gaze, while he was slowly pacing around her room, carefully avoiding to look at her.

"… until I saw you."

An alarm bell started ringing in the back of her mind. He stopped his pacing and looked at her.

"I sensed that plane crash and burn more than one hour before it happened, because the destinies of 247 people were all headed the same way, and the probability of the event was overwhelming for each and every one of the passengers."

Her apprehension was turning into fear. Her throat was constricted, her heart was thumping heavily in her chest, but she remained outwardly calm.

"Raven, there is one more thing that I must tell you, that I didn't tell anyone ever. In order for my power to be useful, my mind needs to put the information in the proper context. And the only way the mind can do this is if it can see not only the future, but also the past that influences that future."

She was barely able to force the words out of her throat. "How far back?" she croaked.

"To the main causing event, however far it is. Raven, I know. When I saw you, I saw everything."

She felt herself falling. She took hold of her anger and fear and used them to pull herself from spinning into the abyss.

"You will please leave my room now" she said through clenched teeth. "You will not mention this to me _ever_ again. You will not even _hint_ to the others anything about it."

"Raven, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I don't have control over it."

"Please, just get out!"

"For what it's worth, your secret is safe with me. Goodbye."

He left. The door closed. She took up her lotus position and intoned the mantra, tears welling in her eyes.

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_


	7. Meditation

The next day passed quietly. In the morning, Teale visited the Titans during combat training. After watching for a while, Robin invited him to a sparring session, which Teale accepted gratefully. After twenty minutes of grueling mock combat he managed to come out on top, but he was forced to concentrate fully on Robin, who was incredibly tough in the defense and merciless in the attack. His sense could give him the information, but to act on that information against Robin was extremely difficult. He was fast, strong and agile and his mind had a natural capability to quickly and accurately assess, analyze and plan for any situation.

When they finished their bout both were drenched in sweat. "I have to hand it to you, Robin. I have never had to sweat so much to defeat someone." Robin was frowning, however. "It is good that I gave you a workout, but I hate losing. I would like to keep practicing with you and see if I can get the upper hand."

"It would be my pleasure. I feel I have also learned a lot, especially about my limitations!"

After training, he met everyone again in the Main Ops Room. They were all at their usual tasks or pastimes. He stole an uneasy glance at Raven and saw her absorbed in a book, as usual. He played another two rounds of Space Race 4 against Beast Boy with predictable results and consequences. The day seemed to have settled into a comfortable routine.

He finally took his copy of Sun Tzu's _Art of War_ and sat down to read. He was just getting concentrated in unraveling the terse observations of the old master, when he became aware of someone standing in front of him. He lifted his gaze and looked into Raven's violet eyes.

"When do you want to start the training?"

"Uh… Whenever it is convenient to you?"

"Let's go."

He followed her out. If anyone noticed, nobody commented.

"Take up a lotus position – that's right, just lower your knees a bit – back straight – good!" she said as she poked and prodded him into the correct position. Her touch was gentle but for some reason it sent shivers through him. He found himself both dreading and hoping that she would touch him again.

"Now close your eyes, focus, find your center, and recite the mantra to help you relax."

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_

"Block out all external stimuli… Your body and mind are at peace… Your soul is free to roam wherever it wants…" her words started coming from farther and farther away. He was feeling as if he was leaving his body below him while he was soaring into the air.

A sharp "Focus!" from Raven told him he overdid it.

He focused again on his center, reconnected with mind and body. He could now observe/feel/know all parts of his body and mind. In his body he found several deficiencies, which he noted for later improvement. But it was his mind that was full of doubts and unanswered questions. The emotions in his soul reacted to them and started whirling around, threatening to overcome him. Raven's soothing voice came through. "Let them flow into you, and through you, and out of you, but keep them in check. Look at their colors. See what they represent. Find a place for each one of them. Nurture and guard them, and they will return the favor to you."

He managed to settle and slowly released the hold. His darker emotions rose suddenly, freed from their fetters. Despair gripped him, fear assaulted him. He started to shiver. Again, Raven's calm voice soothed him and allowed him to regain control. "There are no bad emotions… They are all part of you, part of what you are… Use them, keep them, strengthen them, but never let them rule you…"

He finally found the place she was trying to show him, the place where he should focus, his center. It was not a part of his body, and yet it was. It was not an idea of his mind, and yet it also was. It was not the whirling emotions of his soul, but it was one and the same. It was HIM. All three parts combined, all three working together. He realized that while he could maintain all three centered, focused, balanced, he would be at peace. So he tried, clumsily at first, until he established some semblance of order.

"That should be enough for today", Raven said. He pulled himself back to his reality, not without some regret.

"That was very nice. I see why you like doing it. And I feel a lot better" he told her.

"Did you do this before? Because you were quite good at it."

"No, never."

"You have made very good progress today. Meet me tomorrow, same time, and we'll continue."

"Thank you, Raven, I really appreciate your help –"

"No need to thank me. You are an apt pupil, and it was a pleasure to train you"

"Thanks again. Goodbye, and see you soon"

"Goodbye"

She watched him leave her room. _Yes, it was a pleasure. It was a pleasure to touch you, Teale. It was a pleasure to sense how my touch both calmed and stirred you. It was a pleasure feeling your fear and anxiety abate, your soul shine under my fingers._

 _Why am I doing this? I know what will happen. Why waste my time?_

 _Because there is hope…_

 _Bah! There is no hope. For me, or for anyone else!_

Suddenly angry at herself, she rose and left her room.

* * *

Teale went straight to his room and laid down on his bunk, hands behind his head. He relived the past moments again in his mind. The meditation was good, it calmed him and made him feel better, but it was the touch of Raven's hand that was foremost in his mind.

 _I must not do this. I will NOT do this. It is wrong. I do not have the right to do this to her._

 _But isn't it better to…_

 _NO._

 _Only a few days more. I can handle it. I_ must _handle it. Only a few days more and everything will be finished._


	8. Initiation

The two youths faced each other, staffs in their hands. Suddenly they sprang at each other, a metal staff crashing into a wooden jō, bouncing, changing direction, smashing again. The metal staff traced a silvery arc as it struck, while the jō whirled to receive it. Loud grunts came from the youths, both when striking and when parrying. Blow, parry, counterstrike and dodge flashed one after the other in a violent ballet.

Their dance continued for more than 30 minutes, when one of the youths held up his hand. The metal staff, raised to strike, immediately stopped and his owner retracted it into its handle.

"Let's call it a draw, shall we?" Teale said, breathing heavily.

"What's up, getting tired and slowing down?" Robin replied.

Teale nodded his head. "You would probably win if we had to keep this up for another ten minutes or so."

"It's still a draw. I was getting tired myself!"

"I don't think so. In any case, I just found out that I have another vulnerability. I don't have the stamina for a prolonged fight. Then again, I never had to fight someone like you."

"Well then, we'll just have to do something about that, won't we?" Robin grinned.

Teale returned the grin. "Bring it on!" he said, as he fell into a defensive position.

But Robin smiled and lifted his hand. "We'll continue tomorrow if you want. We won't be very useful in fighting crime if we exhaust ourselves in training."

After a shower and change of clothing, Teale went up to the Main Ops Room. It was empty and quiet, and for a minute Teale enjoyed it.

 _I will have to leave soon,_ he thought. _I must not be here when… when it happens._

Robin entered, also refreshed. Teale turned to him and said "Robin, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, anytime. What's up?"

"Look, I don't want to sound ungrateful for your hospitality, but before coming here I actually had a destination in mind, and the day is approaching when I should get there."

"I see. Where were you headed, if it's not a secret?"

"No, no secret at all. I was going to Kyoto, because sensei Iwakawa Rayzo is holding a seminar on jō techniques next month. It is the only thing that I would never miss."

 _The best lies have some truth in them,_ a sarcastic part of his mind told him. _As if it was the real reason why I'll be leaving._

"Well, it's a shame, but you are welcome to stay here until you leave, and also to return here any time, perhaps when this seminar is over? I would also like to see any new tricks you may pick up from sensei Iwakawa."

"What's this talk of leaving? Who's leaving? Ain't nobody leaving from here if I have anything to say about it!"

Robin and Teale turned to see Cyborg standing at the door, a frown on his face.

"Sorry, Cy, it is a once-in-five-years event, I wouldn't miss it for anything. I promise to come back right after it's finished!" Teale told him.

Cyborg stomped over to Teale and put a massive metal hand on his shoulder. "I know, dude. You gotta do what you need to do."

 _If only you knew how right you are, Cy._ Teale blinked to chase the dark thought from his mind.

"But we'll expect you to honor that promise you just gave!" Cyborg finished.

Teale opened his mouth to thank Cyborg, but at that moment the Crime Alert alarm sounded.

Robin quickly glanced at the monitors and shouted "Dr. Light! The museum! Titans! Go!"

They assembled in front of the museum as Dr. Light exited, walking under a blue dome. A large blue diamond was set into his chest.

"It's some kind of force field, and it's probably connected to that diamond he's wearing!" Robin exclaimed.

"You are absolutely right, my young friend!" Dr. Light snickered. "And you will witness the destruction I can cause, now that I have it in my power!"

In a split second, an intense beam of blue light flashed from the diamond and struck the ground where the Titans stood. Concrete exploded, sending debris and Titans flying everywhere, except for Teale, who was rising from the forward roll he started even before the beam struck. He was still far from Dr. Light, but he threw his jō like a spear at him. The jō struck the blue dome and rebounded in a shower of sparks. Teale quickly glanced at his friends – they were dazed but unharmed, as he knew they would be – and returned his attention to his foe.

"My force field is impenetrable!" chortled Dr. Light. "You cannot harm me!"

He unleashed a second blast at Teale, but missed again. This gave the other Titans time to recover and coordinate an attack.

Starfire's green bolts struck the dome in vain. Cyborg's Shock Cannon shot rebounded from it and smashed into the museum arch, collapsing the gates onto Dr. Light and his dome. The Titans paused, waiting for the dust to clear up, but soon the glimmer of the dome reappeared, sweeping away the debris as Dr. Light advanced towards them. Another blue bolt blasted out of the diamond towards the Titans, but thankfully without striking anyone.

A bus wrapped in dark energy suddenly crashed down on the dome. It was followed by several of Robin's grenades. None of it seemed to have any impact on the hazy blue barrier.

A green T-Rex ran head-first into the dome and bounced off it, shaking its head as dazed. A sizzling beam streaked towards it and struck a shield of black energy that suddenly appeared in front of the green dinosaur. Both beam and shield vanished.

Teale ran, jumped and dodged his way to Robin, avoiding a barrage of blue bolts.

"Robin! I have a plan!"

Robin reluctantly left the other Titans to unsuccessfully battle the invulnerable Dr. Light and jumped beside Teale.

"Let's hear it!"

"The dome shuts down when he fires the beam, but the time is very short. I will draw his fire, but you must then strike at the exact moment that the dome goes down!"

"Sounds too risky, I don't think that –"

Teale shook his head, dismissing Robin's concern. "I'm the one least likely to be hurt. It can't be anyone else." He looked at Robin and winked. Robin smiled back and prepared to back Teale up.

Teale again jumped, sidestepped and rolled, drawing a further barrage of blue fire from the diamond, while Robin launched himself towards Dr. Light. At that moment Teale shouted "NOW!" and Robin, without thinking, lanced his staff into the diamond under the hazy dome. Blue fire erupted from the crystal as Teale twisted his body to avoid the blast. The dome went down to allow the beam through. As the beam subsided the barrier reappeared almost instantly, but Robin's staff was already in and hurtling on its inexorable path. Its tip, melted from where it touched the beam, smashed into the diamond, breaking it into thousands of shiny crystals. The dome went down.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Dr. Light. "YES!" shouted Cyborg, unleashing a bolt of his own and knocking Dr. Light down for the count.

Back at the Tower, after the confrontation, Teale sat reading _The Art of War_ in the Main Ops Room. All the Titans were there, chatting softly with each other. Teale did not notice the glances they were casting in his direction often. He tuned out everything to concentrate on the text, when suddenly he became aware of an unnatural hush.

Teale lifted his eyes to see all the Titans standing before him, with Robin in front. Robin cleared his throat. "Timeline!" he said.

Teale got up on his feet, puzzled. Robin continued. "Timeline – Teale – After witnessing your exemplary performance earlier today and after reviewing your conduct in the previous days –"

"I'd LOVE it!" Teale interrupted him without thinking, beaming an enormous smile.

Robin's own smile widened, and he affected a false frown. "Come on, give me a break, will you? It's one of the few perks that I have as the leader of this bunch!"

Teale reddened, then said "Sorry, please, go ahead."

"As I was saying… Basically, we all feel that you have more than earned the right –"

It was Cyborg's turn to interrupt. "Aw, quit it with the flowery speech and ask the dude already!"

Robin laughed. "All right, since obviously nobody wants to let me enjoy myself a little, I'll cut it short. Teale, do you want to become a full member of the Teen Titans?"

Teale's face suddenly grew serious. "I cannot think of anything else that I would desire more."

 _Liar,_ a small part of his mind whispered. _You certainly can._ Teale chose to ignore it. This was his moment, he was not going to let anything or anyone – including himself – ruin it.

The Titans exploded into cheering and Teale was surrounded by back-slapping, hand-shaking Titans. He even received a congratulatory kiss on the cheek from Starfire.


	9. Escape

Now that he was a fully-fledged member, Teale found himself having a lot of catching up to do. His combat style was geared for solo activities, but now he was not just a guest but an essential part of the team. He had to practice with the others, learning their strengths and weaknesses, and discussing with them how to best mold his talents into an already well-oiled combat machine. Then these theoretical ideas would have to be put to the test in practice, usually through mock combat where he would either attack or defend, alone or paired with up to four other Titans. All combinations and permutations had to be explored, under all possible conditions. It was hard and demanding work, but Teale was glad of it, because he not only noted an immediate increase in his own capabilities, but also that all the training together forged even stronger bonds between him and his friends.

When he was not in the combat simulator or on combat training he was required to familiarize himself with all files pertaining to the well-known enemies of the Titans, their powers and how they can be defeated under various circumstances.

He found that Robin was an exacting taskmaster and that he had a keen eye for any mistakes Teale made. "Your defense is awesome" Robin told him one day while they were sparring, "but your offensive capabilities are very low. You compensate –" Robin paused as he had to avoid a very nasty swing that Teale tried to sneak in "– by hitting a vulnerable spot, but there are enemies –" he ducked another swing and then pirouetted with astonishing speed to avoid the jō suddenly changing course and driving down "– that have no vulnerable spots." Robin switched to counterattack, launching a swing from his staff with his right hand and three birdarangs from his left. Teale's combat skill was stretched to the limit to find a move that would counter all four lightning-quick attacks, even with his sense telling him the most probable trajectories of the weapons. He managed to avoid them all, only to find himself staring at Robin's foot rushing to his face. This time he didn't even listen to his sense, he just threw himself backwards, dodging the kick, and somersaulted over his arms to give himself some time and breathing space so he could get back in control of the situation.

Robin, however, was not interested in relinquishing the control. He pressed the attack, feeling that he had his opponent at the psychological razor's edge. "You also lack any sort of –" he launched a flurry of blows, trying to push Teale over that edge, knowing that if he was successful, Teale would lose the contest because his psychological balance would be shattered. "– ranged attack!"

But Teale defended doggedly, trying to score a hit from a counter, even though his sense told him time and again that his strikes were slow and would not connect. Finally, they both backed down, breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. Robin was grinning from ear to ear, while Teale, only wishing for the contest to be over, croaked "Draw?"

Still grinning, Robin shook his head. At that moment Teale heard something pass whistling just beside his left ear. His sense screamed danger at him and he tried to dodge, but the other two birdarangs struck him from behind, one in the left shoulder, the other in the small of his back. He fell face first on the ground.

"I win!" said Robin, his grin insufferably smug. He offered Teale his hand and helped him get up.

Enjoyable as all these activities were for Teale, there was one daily task that he always both looked forward to and dreaded. He was heading there right now.

His meditation sessions with Raven were the highlights of his day. She usually didn't greet him, but moved a little bit away from the door so he could enter. As he did, she would take his hand into hers and lead him to the meditation circle. It was a little game that Raven started playing with him not long ago.

He remembered well how it started, though he couldn't remember if it was his fourth or fifth session with her. When they finished, she wrapped her arm around his, leading him to the door, and told him "I do not have to teach you anymore. You are now capable of meditating all by yourself." The room door opened. Teale was confused. Was he being dismissed? He made a move towards the door, but realized she still had her arm around his. He looked at her. Her violet eyes were glowing and there was a crooked, mischievous smile on her lips. "Of course, you can always come here and meditate with me if you so wish." she said.

Teale stammered something that sounded like a thanks and a goodbye and almost staggered outside.

Inside, as the door closed, Raven giggled into her hand. Then her face became more serious and she said softly to herself "Now I'm getting to be like Starfire. I'd better watch myself!"

The next day Teale made a valiant attempt to meditate on his own. Thirty seconds later, he was surprised to find himself in front of Raven's door, waiting for her to open.

She opened the door, looking almost the same as he left her yesterday, glowing eyes and crooked smile. She offered both her hands to him. He found himself taking them and then gently being pulled towards the meditation circle.

From then onward, she played her little game with him, looking for any reason to touch him. She would touch his shoulder, arm, face, but her favorite target were his hands. Teale realized with a mixture of anxiety and fascination that his talent actually made things worse – when Raven moved her hand forward to touch him, his hand would move forward to meet hers, completely on its own.

Raven's game created an intoxicating atmosphere that always left Teale slightly dazed. First there was the mixture of fear and excitement while he waited for her to open the door. Then the tension rose when her hands sought to touch him and he tried to avoid it – mostly unsuccessfully. The tension would escalate quickly, until he got himself in his lotus position, eyes closed, intoning the mantra in sync with her. The meditation brought release from the tension and calm to his confused mind. Then, when it was over, she repeated it all over again while leading him to the door, leaving him outside just as dazed as he was when he had walked in.

But today it was different. When she opened the door her face was serious. It was always difficult to read Raven's expression, but Teale had gotten to know her so well that he thought he saw a spark of anger in her eyes. She did not try to reach for his hands, but turned, walked inside and sat on her bed.

Teale followed, again confused. He reached Raven and looked at her. She returned his gaze, waited a few seconds and asked softly "Why did you not tell me you were leaving?"

Teale opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. He then closed his eyes and forced himself to ignore the sudden feeling that his heart was just been ripped out of his chest. He turned away from her, knowing that she would understand why he was doing it.

"I… did not want you to know."

"Then you shouldn't have confided in the guys. They do not realize that it is a secret, and Cyborg just dropped it on me this afternoon. When he told me, I was probably left looking just as stupid as you are now."

"Raven, I'm sorry. I just… have to go. I didn't want to hurt – to upset you."

"Please look at me, Teale. I don't care if you hear me before I speak."

He turned around and looked into her eyes.

"I thought we shared something special, Teale. You are one of the very few people that know my secret. And I know your secrets, you revealed them to me in this very room. Why are you keeping things from me? Do you not trust me?"

"With my life and soul, Raven. But this is something I can't talk about."

"Teale, we both know what is coming. My birthday is only two days away. It will start then, and there is nothing anybody can do to stop it." Teale looked uncomfortably at the floor. "Please look at me, Teale" Raven repeated, just as softly as before. She hadn't raised her voice and she kept her tone neutral, but that just added fire to the knives that were slashing at his heart.

"You are not a coward" she continued. "Neither are you stupid. You know that there is no place on this earth – maybe not on this Universe – where you can hide once it starts. You can't run away from it, Teale."

"I am not running away."

"Yes, you are. Not from the end of the world, not from the wrath of hellfire that will be unleashed, but you _are_ running away. You are running away from _me_."

No sound could pass through Teale's constricted throat. He could only look into those glowing, violet eyes and feel his chest contract, contract, until his heart could no longer beat, it had to explode, to burn, to consume itself and consume him until merciful oblivion could take him. But it was not to be. Every soft word spoken by her was another stab of a flaming knife, every labored breath he took was hot and thick like breathing lava.

Raven stood up. She approached him and took both his hands. For a moment she was staggered when she felt the strength of his emotions. His love for her was as blinding as staring at the sun, but the love twisted and whirled in a tornado, and darkened at the edges, and turned into despair and fear – fear for her – and anguish and regret, all roaring in a thundering maelstrom.

She lifted her face towards him, gazing into his eyes. "There isn't much time left, Teale. I love you and I know you love me. I will need you when it happens. I need to hold your hand and listen to your heart while it consumes us. I want to pass my last few days on Earth with you."

Teale lowered his head, the urge to kiss her overpowering. She closed her eyes and tried to embrace him – but he suddenly jerked away from her.

"NO! I can't do this to you. You must not do this, Raven, _I_ must not do this!"

He turned and almost ran out of her room. She gazed at the closed door where he left and sighed. She levitated into a lotus position and started chanting the mantra.

 _Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…_

Her tears were lost in the darkness of her hood.

Teale left that night. In the morning, she found a handwritten note on her desk.

 _There is always hope._

As tears welled again in her eyes, she crumpled the note and threw it away.


	10. Reencounters

_Raven chained her grief tightly and locked it into a deep corner of her heart. Something in her wilted, her hope diminished and the foundations of her will weakened, but she kept her outward calm._

 _Her birthday came and went, bringing with it the dark premonitions of what was to come. The prophecy was revealed, the fateful day came, and her father – her creator, she reminded herself – came to conquer. But in the hour of deepest despair her hope was rekindled and her will manifested itself, banishing her demonic sire and removing the threat of annihilation from the world._

 _But even though she managed to find peace and comfort with her friends, she could not find joy or happiness. She would never again feel them._

Raven was in lotus position, levitating in the Main Ops Room, reading a book. It was Teale's copy of Sun Tzu's _Art of War._ Whatever had happened between them, it reminded her of him, and it was one of her most precious possessions. She read the words written almost three millennia ago and tried to expand their meaning with her own thoughts on the ideas within.

She heard Cyborg and Beast Boy walk into the room, shouting and laughing, behaving even more boisterously than usual. A lot more. Mildly interested, she lifted her gaze to see what was going on and froze.

"Hey Rae! Look who's back! And I bet he doesn't even know what happened here while he was away!"

Teale was standing there, watching her through his grey eyes. She slowly disentangled herself from her lotus position and canceled the levitation. She strode towards him as if in a dream, took hold of his hand, gave him a small sisterly kiss on the cheek and said "Welcome back. It is good to see you."

Cyborg laughed uproariously. "Good to see him? You were always one for understatement, little sis, but this sets new heights even for you!" He swung his arm to clap Teale on his back, but Teale sensed it and ducked, with the end result that the huge metallic paw flew over him, slapping Beast Boy smack in the head and tossing him several feet to crash on the couch.

"Oops! Sorry, little bro! Got carried away there!"

All the commotion attracted Robin and Starfire. Robin gave a whoop and ran over to his friend, also trying to clap him on the back. This time Teale did not duck – there was no danger of broken bones or cracked spine. Starfire flew a full loop before streaking down to hug the surprised Teale, laughing merrily all the time. She then noticed he was turning purple, released her hug and giggled. Teale flashed a weak grin, gulping lungfuls of air.

The next two hours were spent by the Titans in recounting to Teale the story of Trigon's ascent and subsequent demise, told by everybody at the same time, often cutting each other off, hopping ahead and then jumping back, going off on tangents, in short in such a chaotic way that no one could make heads or tails of it, except that something big happened, that only six people in the entire world actually know about it, and that somehow Raven saved them all.

Teale glanced at Raven, but she was studying the book and ignoring everything and everyone. He couldn't tell if it was real or if she was putting on a show for him. It did not really matter.

 _I had no choice then, and I have no choice now. Just as I had to leave, now I had to return._

He longed to tell her why, to explain himself, to have her understand that he had to do it, but he knew he couldn't.

After a few hours the commotion died down and the Titans settled to their usual pursuits. Teale chatted with everyone except Raven. He then succumbed to Beast Boy's incessant requests, pleas and whines and played a round of Space Race 4 with him.

Teale played half-heartedly, barely paying attention to the game. To everyone's amazement, Beast Boy won by a small margin. When it ended, Teale said "Guys, I'm tired. I'm off to bed." and left the room. Beast Boy couldn't hear him, he was still staring at the results screen, mouth open and a little drool dribbling down his chin.

After about a minute, he whispered "I won… I won. I won! I WON!" and started hopping up and down, switching forms. He threw himself as a small green monkey in Starfire's arms and led her in a dance. Starfire was never one to refuse a good dance, so the strange duo whirled and hopped around the room, laughing and screeching.

Amidst the commotion, Cyborg rose from the couch and strolled over to Raven, sitting down beside her.

He tapped his prosthetic eye with one finger and said "Little sis, you'll forgive ole' Uncle Cy for prying into your personal life, but it don't take a broad frequency, EM amplifying, image enhancing eye to see that something's not right between you and Teale. Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Just like the old Raven we all knew and loved. But you're not her any more. What is it?"

She sighed. "Cyborg, I don't want to talk about it."

"I know. That's why I'm wasting my time trying to wheedle it out of you instead of aligning the tachyon injector on the T-Car. Now be a good little girl and tell your Uncle Cy what is it. Did something happen between the two of you the night he left?"

Raven felt a flash of anger. " _Nothing_ happened, Cyborg!" She started to rise from her lotus position. _I just want to go to my room and enjoy my misery in peace._

"Ahhh, so that's it?" asked Cyborg, placing his hand on hers, stopping her from rising. The metallic hand was warm and its touch was surprisingly gentle. "You see how easy it was to tell it all to Uncle Cy, little sis?"

Her confusion must have been obvious, because Cyborg suddenly chuckled.

"Your emphasis on the _Nothing_ " he explained. "You see, little sis, us guys are a weird bunch. We'll happily face hordes of killer robots, armies of evil mutants and extradimensional demons without flinching. But when we have to face a girl? Whole 'nuther story. Your insides turn to mush, your tongue thickens, your throat is suddenly three sizes too small for you to be able to breathe… Nasty business. Give him some time, little sis. Give him some time."

Raven couldn't feel Cyborg's emotions through the metallic hand, but she saw them plainly in his human eye. His concern, his love, his friendship, the way he called her "little sis". The angry retort she almost threw into his face evaporated. She lowered her eyes and sighed.

"It is not exactly like that, Cy. It's much more complicated."

"Ain't it always?" he said, and with a final pat on her hand, he left her.


	11. Revelations

Teale sat on his bed, arms on his knees, head bowed.

 _Tomorrow. It will happen tomorrow. Only a few hours left._

He wished he could go back to the Main Ops Room and share in the merriment with the other Titans. But he knew he couldn't.

He wished – Gods, he _pained_ – to see her again, to feel her touch, to smell her hair, to hear her voice.

He heard soft knocking on his door. He got up, went to the door and opened it.

He stood there dazed for a few seconds, just like he did when he saw her for the first time. But now the reasons were different.

"May I come in?" she asked.

Her soft voice pulled him out of his daze and he stepped from the door. "Please."

Raven walked in, realizing with some amusement that this was the first time she was here. The room was smaller than hers, clean and relatively tidy. Only a few books were scattered around the bed and nightstand. Teale was obviously a heavy reader.

She sat in an armchair, gathering her cloak around her as if for protection. Her hood was up and her violet eyes glowed softly from its depths. She waited.

He returned to his bed and sat on it. He looked into her eyes for a long moment, and then, realizing she was not going to speak, he said "I suppose you would like an explanation for my conduct."

Raven moved a little in the armchair. She waited a few seconds before answering. "The old Raven could have said 'Whatever gave you that idea?' Or she could have said 'Am I that obvious?' Or she could have said 'How could you tell?' But I am not the old Raven. And I think you know that. But not only because my fa– my creator's taint was cleansed. It is also because I had to chain and lock away a part of myself. Because I dared to dream of joy and happiness, if only for a few days, but not even that was allowed to me. I wish to know why."

"It is a long story" he said.

"We have all the time in the world."

 _No. We only have until tomorrow morning._ Aloud, he said "Very well."

"When I first saw you, I saw your future." She nodded. "I know that."

"No, you don't. Not fully. Because I didn't feel your future as I usually do. Your future probabilities did not diverge, they _converged_. That in itself was shocking. But that was not what left me dazed. What I really saw was the Prophecy, in its final form, and in its entirety. I saw _its_ past and future. That is what dazed me."

He continued on. "Raven, the Prophecy was created by Trigon to enable him to take over our Universe. It is – was – an unimaginably powerful force. And it was Trigon's downfall."

"What?" She gasped before she could control herself.

He nodded. "Trigon fell into the same trap like many other tremendously powerful beings before him. He created something bigger than himself, and in his arrogance he didn't realize it. The power that he had to pour into the Prophecy was so huge that he created a quasi-sentient magical construct, whose only purpose was to lead everything – you, me, our entire Universe – to the designated ending."

She started to understand "And Trigon, also."

He nodded again. "Without knowing, he created something that not even he would be able to resist. And he implanted this in your mother, so that it became you. His arrogance betrayed him again, then. He was certain that there was no power in our Universe capable of challenging Trigon the Terrible, so he scoffed as your mother took refuge with the monks of Azarath."

"And yet, under the influence of the monks, the Prophecy changed. You were born, you grew up under their gentle tutelage. They taught you control over your powers."

She frowned. "Do you mean that _I_ controlled the Prophecy somehow?"

"No, no. You must never forget one thing: The Prophecy was you and you were the Prophecy. Your powers were a gift of the Prophecy, not of Trigon."

"As I said, the Prophecy had some kind of quasi-sentience. I do not think that it was something that Trigon granted it, but rather that the Prophecy _mutated_ _itself in order to be able to fulfill itself_."

"This is the problem when you deal with prophecies. They have a nasty tendency to become self-fulfilling – remember that Greek story about Oedipus? His prophecy said that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother. So his father sent him away to be killed, but he survived and was adopted. Then, as a youth, he learned of the prophecy and left his home, because he did not want to harm his adoptive parents, whom he loved. And in his wanderings –"

"– he came to Thebes, fought and killed Laius and married Iocasta!" she finished the story for him. Her head was whirling with the implications of what he told her.

"Exactly. Now imagine a similar Prophecy, created by an arrogant, immensely powerful and immensely evil demon, which is then given flesh."

"I am, of course, not an expert in curses, demonology or prophecies, I can only tell you what I saw and what I later reasoned out. The two critical things were that the Prophecy was able to change itself and that it was given form – your form, your flesh, your blood, your mind and soul."

"As you grew, learned and changed, so did the Prophecy. The final result – the end of the world – could not be changed; indeed, the Prophecy would destroy mercilessly anyone or anything that might try to prevent it. Instead, it grew with you, learned with you, shared your thoughts and feelings. And so it _changed_. The influence of the monks of Azarath made it feel incomplete. It felt/understood/reasoned/desired that it needed to complete itself. So it slowly transformed into a Tao circle. Half dark, half light, both with a little of one in the other."

"In the end, the two halves reached harmony. Now the Prophecy could reach complete fulfilment – it would bring Trigon in and destroy our world, _and then banish Trigon and restore it_."

Raven's head was spinning. She had trouble assimilating everything that Teale was saying. "You are telling me that no matter what I did, no matter what Trigon did, we wouldn't be able to change anything?"

"Yes. The Prophecy of Dark needed to bring you to the Place of Summoning and allow Trigon to enter through you. This was its purpose, and once it was done, the Prophecy of Dark had no further use for you, or Trigon for that matter. The Prophecy of Light safeguarded your human half, and it kept your friends safe so that they could give you hope and awaken your powers – _your_ powers – and defeat Trigon."

Raven was silent for a long time, mulling over what Teale had told her. She finally lifted her head and said "I think I understand. I also think that you are right. Yes, once both were fulfilled, they had no reason to exist any more, and they simply vanished." He nodded "Such is the way of prophecies."

"Thank you for explaining this to me, Teale. But it does not answer my first question."

Teale looked blankly at her. He had gotten so involved in explaining about the Prophecy that he now did not understand what she was talking about.

She looked into his eyes and said softly "Why did you leave?"

He looked at the floor and did not answer.

"You choose not to answer me. Very well, I will then have to answer it myself."

She got up from the armchair and walked toward him. She sat on the bed beside him and took his hand.

"I love you, Teale. And I know that you love me. You did not want to be there because our love would have changed things. You saw the Prophecy, the Dark and the Light, and you knew what was going to happen. Your talent showed you that if you allowed yourself to be with me, your mere presence would be an unwelcome influence on the final results that the Prophecies were trying to achieve. You reasoned – perhaps you even sensed – that the Prophecies would not allow it, and that to prevent the interference, they would simply obliterate you."

"That is so", he said quietly, still staring at the floor. _But it is not all._

"And you couldn't tell me this because…"

He frowned. "Because I feared that telling you would carry the same consequences."

She smiled her crooked, mischievous smile. "I was teasing you, silly. That was obvious."

Her smile faded. She looked down. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

He shook his head "What else could you think? If I could have done anything to spare you the pain, I would." He turned towards her. "I love you more than life, Raven."

She came closer to him, her eyes closed, her scent making his head spin. He kissed her hair, her eyes, her lips. She kissed him back and he lost track of reality.


	12. Death

He laid in his bed, on his back, his arm curled protectively around her as she slept, her head pillowed on his shoulder, her arm across his chest.

A tear ran from his eye and over his ear to drop on the linen and disappear.

 _I have hurt you before, my sweet Raven. But I have also given you joy and happiness, I hope._

 _And now I have to hurt you again._

He sighed softly, trying not to wake her up. His eyes sought the clock, read the time displayed. _It will happen soon enough._

 _I wish I could do something to change it._ He closed his eyes, calming himself, surrendering to the pleasure of feeling her warmth close to him, her scent intoxicating him, her heartbeat calming and reassuring him.

 _I will not ruin our last moments together worrying about what cannot be changed._

The decision dispelled the last vestiges of anguish that he felt. He gently kissed her hair and she snuggled closer to him, without waking up. Finally at peace, he allowed himself to drift to sleep.

It was early morning when the Crime Alert alarm sounded.

Beast Boy ran out of his room, turned the corner and almost ran into Cyborg who was just exiting his. Beast Boy tried to fall in step with the metal giant, but he had to turn into an ostrich before he could catch up. In front of them, Raven and Teale ran out of Teale's room, without noticing the two Titans behind them.

Beast Boy turned into his original form, stopped, surprised, and opened his mouth to ask something. Cyborg's big paw suddenly closed over his mouth. He turned to look at Cyborg, angry, and saw him frown down at him, with the index finger of his other hand on his lips. He showed Cyborg the thumbs-up to make clear that he understood, and Cyborg removed the hand gagging him. They both glanced down the corridor to where Raven and Teale disappeared, then back at each other, grinning. They did a silent high-five and ran off after them.

The fight was difficult but they were slowly gaining the upper hand. Their opponent was a strange, monstrous robot, a twelve-feet-high cylinder with domelike ends and a set of three massive metallic tentacles at each one of these ends. It used the bottom three tentacles to walk, while flailing with the upper three at his enemies. It also had a set of three laser emitters located at the crown, between the tentacles.

Raven's and Starfire's bolts did little to no damage to the thick armor plating of the robot. Cyborg's Shock Cannon and Robin's grenades fared little better. However, after ten minutes of hard fighting, two tentacles lay already severed and writhing on the pavement, and repeated attacks by Robin and Teale, assisted by Beast Boy, knocked out two lasers and several sensors.

The Titans were readying for the final attack, when Teale shouted "Watch out!" The robot's controlling computer reached the decision that mobility should be sacrificed for increased attack power, and the one remaining tentacle coiled like a spring above it. At the same time, the three walking tentacles extended and flipped the robot over. It was now standing on its coiled tentacle, and again had three of them to fight the Titans, plus a full complement of lasers.

The fight continued for a few minutes more. Beast Boy, in Quetzalcoatlus form, carried Teale over the robot and dropped him on top when Teale shouted "Now!" He fell on the dome, stabbed his jō into a sensor, then jumped off, rolled, then jumped sideways and rolled again, avoiding the tentacles that smashed into the pavement around him, trying to pulverize him.

Raven landed, looking for something to use to distract the robot and give Teale a chance to escape. She used telekinesis to throw a car at the robot. It did not cause any appreciable damage, but it caused the machine to sway on the single coiled tentacle that was supporting it and to turn its attention to her.

She saw one of the tentacles rush with frightening speed towards her and she barely managed to put up a dark energy shield. The tentacle smashed into the shield and the force of the impact reflected partly on her. She staggered, and for an instant, lost sight of what was going on.

Teale was running towards her, shouting something, pointing at her left. She couldn't make out what it was. She turned left and barely had time to see another tentacle closing in on her. It was too late, she did not have time to put up a defense or to dodge. The tentacle streaked towards her in horrible slow motion. She felt a blow on her right side and was thrown several feet away. As she was falling, she saw the tentacle that would have hit her crash into Teale instead, lifting him off the ground and smashing him into a concrete wall. Debris from the stricken wall fell. The tentacle coiled back. Raven screamed.

"Teale!"

Raven's eyes blazed white, then the blaze expanded to the jewel on her forehead, and then her whole body. Raven lifted both arms above her head, palms up. She brought her arms in front of her – a cloud of dark energy, crisscrossed by blinding white sparks, formed around the robot. She clenched her fists – the armor that until then withstood all attacks now bent inwards, and the robot was crushed like a soda can that somebody stepped on. She spread her arms, and with a horrifying screech of tortured metal the remains of the monstrous robot were ripped apart.

The pieces of the destroyed machine were still falling when she landed where Teale disappeared. She feverishly started clearing the debris, looking for him. The other Titans, having witnessed everything, ran to help.

"No, no, NO!" she cried as she tossed chunks of masonry away, trying to get to Teale. She saw his hand beneath a large block of concrete and removed it gingerly. The other Titans stood behind her, silent, shocked.

She fell to her knees beside his broken body. There was nothing to be done. It was over.

As she knelt beside Teale, she finally understood.

"You fool. You idiot! You stupid, STUPID FOOL!"

She lifted her head and screamed her denial at the uncaring sky.

Everything that was made of glass in a three-block radius suddenly exploded, sending sparkling, clinking shards all around.

Her head fell down again and she started to sob. At each sob, waves of pavement, concrete and dirt, four feet high and a dozen feet wide, emerged and radiated out, like ripples in a pond. The Titans were knocked off their feet. Buildings all around started swaying.

"Robin!" Cyborg shouted. "The tranquilizers! She'll destroy the whole city!"

"I'm sorry, Raven" Robin whispered as he pulled a tranquilizing dart from his belt and threw it at Raven's back. The dart hit her, and the next second she collapsed over what remained of Teale. The tremors subsided. A deathly silence descended.

"Let's get them both to the Tower" Robin said quietly.


	13. Epilogue

The Main Ops Room was still and quiet. Robin sat frowning, Starfire paced around, bracing herself with her arms, eyes full of tears. Beast Boy was sniffling and shifting his glance from one to the other.

The main screen lit up and Cyborg's face appeared on it. "She's awake. The tranquilizer's effect is gone, but I have sedated her heavily. She wants to see us all."

They all ran quickly to the Sickbay. Raven was propped up in the bed, a blank expression on her face. Cyborg was fussing around her.

As the other Titans silently filed in, a small spark animated Raven's eyes. She opened her mouth to speak. Robin quickly knelt on one knee in front of her. "Hush. You shouldn't."

"He was our friend" she whispered.

Robin nodded. "And much more to you. I'm… I'm sorry, Rae."

She had no strength to thank him, she just closed her eyes and opened them again, looking at their faces, seeking comfort in seeing them around her.

Finally, Cyborg herded them all out. "I'll take Raven to her room. Please do not disturb her." He shot a warning glance at Beast Boy, but he looked so miserable there was no question of him doing any foolishness.

Cyborg took Raven in his arms and carried her to her room. He gently placed her on the bed, covered her and said "Sleep now, little sis. You'll feel much better when you wake up."

"No. Cyborg. Come here. I must… tell you." she whispered, beckoning to him with her hand, too exhausted to lift her arm.

"You must sleep, little sis. It can wait until you wake up."

"NO!" she said, lifting herself on one elbow, her eyes suddenly blazing. "I must tell you. You must know. _They_ must know."

Startled, Cyborg said "All right, little sis, if you think it is so important…"

"It is. The Titans must know who... Teale was. What... what he did. Now let me speak and don't interrupt me."

Cyborg silently walked into the Main Ops Room and sat down on the couch, looking at the panoramic window, not really seeing anything. The others turned towards him. "Well, how is she?" asked Beast Boy.

"She is sleeping. But before I could get her to sleep, she insisted in telling me the whole story. And man, some story it turned out to be!"

"Friend Cyborg, please tell us of this story of Raven! Please!"

Cyborg nodded. "She demanded that I tell it to you as soon as I can. And I agreed. We all should know." He then told them everything as Raven told him – what happened when they first met Teale, the full extent of his power, the Prophecies, why he left and why he returned, finishing with his sacrifice.

When he finished, Starfire was sobbing softly, hands over her face. Beast Boy, unnaturally quiet and still, was gazing at the floor, while Robin was sitting, elbows on knees, frowning, eyes not really focusing on anything.

"So from the moment he first saw her, he knew that today she would be in mortal danger, and that the only way for her to survive was for him to sacrifice himself?" Robin asked finally.

"Raven is certain of it. Of course, Teale never told her as much, but she knows – they were very close. She said that now she understood all the subtle hints he was giving off – unconsciously, of course – some of his more convoluted answers and behavior, things like that."

"But how could he see that far in the future? I understand that he could see Raven's past and future because of the Prophecies, since they did not allow any possibilities other than their own fulfillment, but once they were fulfilled, didn't Raven's destiny change to a normal, diverging set of possibilities?" asked Robin.

"Raven has two theories. One, that she thinks is the correct one, is that it is a parting gift of the Prophecies – since they were gone, it follows that the vessel that carried them should be gone, too. But since they were gone, they were not able to influence reality, so a second probability – that Teale would sacrifice himself to save her – arose. The other theory is that it is a curse of Trigon, but she does not believe it to be true. She said she would feel it if Trigon attempted something like that."

The Tower remained very quiet until morning.

The Titans slowly filed in, seeking breakfast and companionship, but the atmosphere was muted. Even Beast Boy was subdued.

Sometime at mid-morning, Raven floated into the room. She looked more or less the same as usual, which is not saying much, since her hood hid everything but her eyes. As she entered, even the muted conversations ceased. Four pairs of eyes followed her as she walked slowly towards the fridge.

She stopped and turned to face them all, removing her hood. "Please," she said softly, "do not behave like I have the plague or something. You can help me best by being what you are, not by avoiding me."

The guys blushed and looked uncomfortable, but Starfire flew over to Raven. "Friend Raven," she said, "if there is anything that I can do for you for the diminishing of the hurt that you have…" Raven gave her a small smile. "Of course there is, Starfire."

Starfire was so excited that she flew a loop and landed again in front of Raven, happily saying "There is? What is it? I will most gladly perform any feat if it will –"

"Starfire!" Raven cut her off, her small smile widening slightly. "Thank you. You already did."

Starfire was confused. "I did? But I…" Raven placed a gentle hand on Starfire's cheek, just like the alien girl did to her a few days ago. "You were happy. That is the best you can do for me. You have to be happy enough for both of us."

Starfire's eyes filled with tears, but with an immense effort she willed them away. "Then it shall be so, my friend." She wiped her eyes and left her.

"Well, I agree with Raven" Cyborg said. "No sense in making this place any gloomier." He strode to Raven, who was getting ready to sit at the table, and sat down beside her. "Are you sure, little sis?"

Raven looked at him, noting the concern in his eye. She placed her hand on his big, metallic one, and smiled at him. "Of course. Don't worry about me, big bro."

Cyborg got up. There still was concern for her in his eye. "If you ever need something, you know, like talk to somebody…"

"You will be my first choice, Cy." she smiled. He smiled back, got up and walked away. On his way, he scooped up Beast Boy, who was heading to talk to Raven, and said "No, little buddy. You, not yet. Let's play a round of Space Race 4."

Beast Boy was looking ready to complain, but he glanced at Raven, then back at Cyborg, and said "You're right." Then his face fell. "But I don't want to play that game any more."

"Yes, you do. Because every time you play it you'll remember Teale. And that will keep his memory alive. All of us must find a way to do it, each one of us in his own way."

"I'll go practice a bit." Robin said. "We all should. It will keep our thoughts away from gloominess and help us remember our friend. Besides, now with Slade around again, we need to be in top condition."

Raven was eating breakfast slowly as he spoke. As the spoon was lifted to her mouth, it suddenly paused for a few seconds, then continued. She finished her breakfast and got up.

"I'll be in my room, if anyone needs me."

The next few days were quiet. The few alerts did not require more than one or two of them to resolve. Raven left her room only to eat. The Titans strove to behave normally towards her, but after several days Starfire grew concerned. Even though she knew that Cyborg and Robin – especially Robin – would not be happy about it, she went to Raven's room.

The door opened and Starfire could see a small spark of surprise in Raven's eyes when she saw her. "Star! Thanks for coming. Do you want to come in?"

"Yes, thank you, friend Raven!" Starfire flitted into the room. She has been there very seldom, but there seemed to be no changes, just a lot of books all over the place. "You have been reading?"

"Yes, I have started working hard on a project. It helps me keep my mind from… you know."

"Oh, Raven, that is so delightful! I was concerned because I seldom saw you seek our companionship lately, but now I see that there is a reason behind it."

"Yes, well, I should apologize for not socializing more. I will try spend more time with you in the future. Tell the boys I'm sorry, please."

"Thank you, Raven. I will give the others the good news of your state. Goodbye!"

"Bye, Starfire."

Starfire left and Raven's door closed. She resumed levitating in lotus position, lifting several books off the ground with her power and leafing through them.

 _I almost have all the necessary details. I will be able to do it soon._

Two nights later, all the Titans except for Robin left to sleep. As usual, he stayed several hours more, studying patterns of crime, trying to deduce if Slade was behind any, and if so, why, where and how will he strike again.

But no clues were apparent tonight. Tired, he stretched and turned off the computer. He rose to leave the room and then became aware of a shadow standing by the door.

"Slade!" he shouted and dropped into combat stance. But the shadow glided forward and spoke with Raven's voice. "No."

"Raven! You just scared me out of my wits! What are you doing here at this time?"

"I have to see him, Robin."

He needed a couple of seconds to understand who she was talking about. "See him? Why? And at this hour?"

"I have to see him."

"Raven, he's in a cryogenic sarcophagus, frozen in liquid helium. There is not much to see. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. I have to see him. Now. Please."

Robin didn't like it at all, but he saw no way to refuse her. "Very well, let's go."

They descended to the Vault, where a special niche was made for Teale's sarcophagus. "Here we are. You know, I was thinking of dedicating this part of the room to fallen Titans. We could also bring in Terra's statue, and…"

"Open it."

He stared at Raven, dumbfounded. "What?"

"Open it. Please."

"But Raven, I… he… I don't understand!"

"Please, just open it."

There was something in Raven's voice that told him she would not back down. He punched in the security code and opening sequence, then stepped back as the massive lid slowly slid into the wall, revealing the body inside.

They stood there for a minute, both struggling with their emotions. Finally, Raven lifted her arms above her head.

 _Azarath Metrion Zinthos!_

A cocoon of dark energy formed around Teale's frozen body. Robin stepped back. "Raven? What are you doing?"

"Taking him to my room. _Azarath Metrion Zinthos!_ "

The black form of Raven's soul-self emerged and engulfed her and Teale's cocoon, and they disappeared upwards through the ceiling, leaving Robin alone in the Vault.

Her preparations were almost complete. Teale's body, still wrapped in the protective black cocoon, was placed on a stone slab inscribed with glowing runes. The pentagram was finished, the five candles at its apexes burning. She levitated in lotus position facing the pentagram and started whispering the incantation.

The darkness in the room became deeper. The candles shone brighter, but this only made the shadows that much stronger. The room became stifling hot. The smell of brimstone was overpowering.

Four slits of red flame opened in the air above the pentagram.

"Hello, father." said Raven. "I wish to strike a bargain."


End file.
